Thomas Frank Quotes

Government is a progressive instrument for the common good.

Margaret Thatcher's government redistributed money from rich to poor. And that's the nature of a modern western democracy.

Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy. What does social democracy mean? It means a way of life which recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life.

The trouble with the social-democratic state is that, when government does too much, nobody else does much of anything.

We need government to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves.

What is the soul, the informing spirit of our institutions, of our entire system of government but public opinion. Let us direct the force, the vast moral force of this engine, to the aid of others.

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities....In all that the people can individually do for themselves, government ought not interfere.

If you are a Social Democrat, then you think it's cool to pay taxes. For me, taxation is the finest expression for what politics really is.

Politics is the art of providing for the general welfare. It's the great human cooperative institution. It, in principle, is not competitive. It's an attempt of a community of people to get together in order to solve their problems …

A party should be founded not merely on numbers, but on moral principles, without which it can neither accomplish useful work nor inspire confidence.

We have not abandoned our old belief in liberty, justice, and Self-help, but we say that under certain conditions the people cannot help themselves, and that then they should be helped by the State representing directly the whole people.

The object of Socialism is not to render the individual capable of living on his personal resources. That is the theory of radical individualism. Its object is to create in him a greater and greater sense of his dependence upon the state, and, at the same time, to inculcate in him the conviction that he is a part of it and that he has a duty and responsibility toward the state; and that only in so far as he fulfills this duty can he benefit by the advantages of a complete personal and social life.

That’s the function of government—to do for people what they cannot do for themselves.

We must know what we think and speak out, even at the risk of unpopularity. In the final analysis, a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are.

... the even more fundamental task that lies before the leader of a democracy is to bring to the people the realization that true democracy is the effort of the people individually to carry their share of the burden of government.

Many women feel that they are so unimportant that their action can count little for good or ill, but it is the mass of individuals that makes up public opinion and public opinion is what runs a democracy!

It is not parties that make or save countries or that build them to greatness. It is clean men, clean ordinary citizens, the masses.

It cannot be said that we dislike paying taxes for the welfare of those less well off than we are, so we develop a draping cover of economic and social theory.

Not only does big government get in the way when it provides disincentives to work, it also has a profoundly negative effect on community. […] The more the government does for individuals, the more community is diminished.

I'm someone who thinks that the world would be a better place if there was a big middle class. I mean, middle class is peace. In a perfect world, everybody would have enough to eat and we'd be living in security. It's obvious. I'm very happy to pay my taxes and all that. I would say I'm more of a Social Democrat.

Hillary Clinton is the problem; she is not the solution to Donald Trump. We are the solution. We are the ones we've been waiting for. This is our moment. Together, we do have the power to create an America and a world that works for all of us.

Freedom will not prevail because of historical forces; it will only win, if it does, because of historical actors. In other words, us. Those like me who came of age around 1989 used to take democracy for granted.

People should look at the government as 'us,' not as 'them' and not in terror.

'Democratic socialism' is awful as a slogan and catastrophic as a policy. And 'social democracy' - a term that better fits the belief of more ordinary liberals who want, say, Medicare for all - is a politically dying force. Democrats who aren't yet sick of all their losing should feel free to embrace them both.

You go to your public library, or you call your fire department or police department, what do you think you are calling? These are socialist institutions.